A COUPLE are facing a court battle to keep their £5,000 family car after Scotland's largest local authority called in debt collectors to seize the vehicle over an unpaid bus gate fine.

Geoffrey and Dawn Bonelle, from Livingston in West Lothian, have been locked in a year-long dispute with Glasgow City Council over the fixed penalty notice, which was issued after Mr Bonelle drove through the city's controversial Nelson Mandela Place bus gate on October 7 last year.

The original £30 fine has ballooned to £274 and Mrs Bonelle, who is the registered owner of the car, is now set to appear at Livingston Sheriff Court on December 16 to challenge "disproportionate" attempts by the council to seize the couple's Dacia Stepway Sandero in lieu of the debt.

The Bonelles are furious as they say the car is a lifeline for their son, who stays at a residential centre for autistic adults in Lochgelly, Fife during the week.

Using public transport causes him "severe stress and physical distress", said Mr Bonelle, a retired Army officer who now volunteers at his local Citizens' Advice Bureau.

He added: "The car is needed to collect him from Lochgelly, bring him to Livingston on a Friday evening and return him back to Lochgelly on a Sunday afternoon.

"It is also used to take him out for the day when he is having unsettled periods. Without the car we could do none of the above."

Mr Bonelle, 67, was attending a training seminar in Glasgow when the car's satellite navigation system directed him through the bus gate.

He said: "At no time did I see any signs or notices advising me it was a bus gate. There were a lot of cars both in front of me and behind me travelling the exact same way so it never entered my mind that I was doing anything wrong."

The couple have been trying to challenge the legality of the penalty notice on the grounds of poor signage ever since and were shocked when sheriff's officers arrived at their home last month with an arrestment order for the car. They were told the vehicle - bought brand new in 2013 for £8,995 - had been valued at £1,700 and would be seized to pay off their bus gate fine.

"It's worth three times that amount," said Mrs Bonelle, 57. Glass's Guide, the online valuation website, estimates the car is worth £4,990- £6,300.

The Bonelles claim that Glasgow City Council have thwarted their attempts to appeal the penalty notice by failing to provide an application form for the Scottish Parking Appeals Service, despite repeated requests. They are now out of time. The council said all correspondence "had been accounted for", including appeals forms.

The couple are also unhappy that the council has failed to respond to freedom of information requests asking whether the bus gate signage was improved following admissions by city transport bosses in September 2014 that the number of transgressions was "unusually high".

The bus gate - which went live on June 30, 2014 - generated £800,000 worth of fines in its first two months, equivalent to what Edinburgh and Aberdeen councils combined earn from all their bus lanes cameras in a year.

A spokeswoman for Glasgow City Council said: "Debt recovery agents have a number of measures available to them to get the money which is owed, including arresting bank accounts or seizing assets.

"This - seizing a car - is part of their recovery process to get the fees.

"There have been several opportunities offered to Mrs Bonelle to pay the bus lane penalty charge notice at the reduced rate of £30, as well as a further opportunity to pay at £60."

She added that seven permanent signs warning drivers about bus gate have been in place since early June 2014 and are "clearly visible" on Hope Street, West George Street, West Nile Street and at Nelson Mandela Place.